


Life is (Finally) Good

by malfoyisme



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, lotor and coran are mentioned in passing don't worry they're okay <3, slumber party, whoo boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26550655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malfoyisme/pseuds/malfoyisme
Summary: The boys are happy, characters we love are alive and respected the way they deserved to be, aaaaaaand the team may or may not be watching a docuseries i really fucking LOVEtldr: fluff with flashbacks of the war, but mostly fluff
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 32





	Life is (Finally) Good

Pidge was going to lose her mind. Was it over a math problem? Coding? Robotics project? Perhaps the chronic PTSD she and her teammates had suffered since returning home to Earth after the war? No. Was someone taking her place on the (admittedly gigantic) couch the team shared? No. It was something far simpler than that. It was… 

Spaceship pajamas. Keith and Lance were wearing spaceship pajamas, _ matching ones _ , no less. Lance’s were light blue, soft flannel covered with teeny cows being abducted by aliens while Keith’s fleece ones were red with cowboys using lassos to yank the spaceships down. Their lion slippers were somehow fluffier than ever, despite the two years’ worth of wear and tear on them. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? After all we went through, you’re wearing SPACESHIP pajamas?” Pidge sputtered, brows drawn together in confusion. A firm but gentle hand landed on her shoulder soothingly. As she turned to face Hunk, Pidge felt steam about ready to come out of her ears. That lasted for all of two seconds after the team sweetie-pie smiled softly, a hand behind his neck as he changed the topic to a new musician he’d discovered recently. While the two debated music theory and which classical compositions went the hardest, their peers chatted a tad more peacefully around them. 

From her comfy corner, Allura beamed, clad in an 1800’s style nightgown she had dyed pink in honor of her mother, the goth queen she was. Although it had taken some convincing, her newfound family finally understood the Altean color traditions and how vastly different they were from Earth’s. Clutching a stuffed unicorn plushie in her recently manicured hands, Allura grinned as she turned to Coran and asked, “Do you think any of  _ these  _ creatures will be found in this program?” 

White-gloved fingers raised to the slippery Altean’s chin as he thought it over for a second, walking around the room excitedly before launching into a tirade about animal rights and how ‘mirth-ee-oh-logi-cal’ creatures deserved them, too. As the two hyped one another up over leprechauns and sphinxes, Shiro chuckled and noted to himself to teach the eager two about the differences between a documentary and a mockumentary. Clearly Keith’s movie night choice of ‘ _ Mothman: Revenge of the Desk Lamp _ ’ had given the wrong impression about fictional beings. 

Amidst the chaos, tan hands ran through thick black locks. “When was the last time you brushed this mess?” Lance demanded, reaching behind himself to grab a hairbrush as Keith squirmed on the edge of the couch. The two were sat with Keith in front of Lance who was all set up with his face mask and hair towel while Pidge and Hunk set up the TV to play  _ Planet Earth 5 _ . Lance, being several inches taller than his partner was grateful for the height difference, as without it he wouldn’t be able to absentmindedly fix his boyfriend’s messy hair while seeing different tree frogs leaping across the screen. 

Starting at the lowest part, Lance delicately worked his way through the knots as Keith leaned back into him, clearly appreciating the grooming. He caught himself smiling goofily and took a second to breathe, and embrace the whole scene he was surrounded by. 

A little over two years ago, he would never have believed he would have this chance at a good life again. He had fully expected to die in Blue and never see his siblings again, and up until the last moment was in turmoil over his feelings for Keith. Only after Keith had been captured by the Galra did Lance finally allow himself to just act on instinct and do what felt right. 

There, standing on the thin metal bridge in the Galran mothership, he had seen Keith, eyes alight with quintessence poisoning and fangs out. 

_ “Keith!” He screamed, voice reverberating in the collapsing battleship. The green lights around them were starting to flicker, their eerie energy casting an unnatural light over the two as they stood on opposing sides. As parts of the ship around them began to break off and float up, Lance launched himself across the path, legs straining as he sprinted like never before.  _

_ Their eyes locked, Keith bounding towards Lance, blade drawn and an ugly sneer across his face.  _

_ Calling on his broadsword, Lance raised his just in time for Keith to deal a powerful slash to it, the heavy metals clanging throughout the makeshift arena. Panging radiated up his arm as he moved to swing, only to block when Keith beat him to the punch. With each clash of their weapons, Lance felt himself losing ground. Quiznak. He was supposed to keep charging forward, why wasn’t his training enough?  _

_ Crack!  _

_ A split in white armor formed as Lance was thrown back to the ground, scrambling to regain his footing as Keith loomed ever closer. Desperate, he thrust the broadsword out in a last attempt to disarm, only resulting in defeat, as the one-handed swing wasn’t powerful enough against the quintessence-corrupted warrior. He watched as his sword spiral away from him as Keith leaned forward, pressing the blade to his throat.  _

_ “I remember it!” Lance shouted, eyes scrunched shut in anticipation of the deadly swipe. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly opened them to see Keith, arm shaking as his eyes flashed between red and a slight hint of that silvery-violet they had been. The same shade that had enchanted all the girls back in their Garrison days, the ones Lance had envied for years until… Until he realized he wanted them only on him. True to tragedy, he had only realized it as Keith had said goodbye, leaving for Marmora and securing Lance as a critical member of Voltron again.  _

_ Looking down, Lance grabbed the sword - admittedly not his brightest moment - and gripped it tightly as he made eye contact with Keith and kept talking.  _

_ “I remember the bonding moment!” The blade was starting to cut through the tough black fabric of his suit, razor’s edge growing closer to his skin by the second. “I never forgot it! I could never!” Blue eyes flashed with emotion as he continued, “I was just a stupid kid and I didn’t wanna admit it,” a sharp tear ripped through the fabric as Lance held on, looking down to see the blood dripping into his lap from his hand. Keith was looking more and more conflicted, and the shaking of the blade was becoming more apparent. Steeling his nerves, he closed his eyes and prepared to die.  _

_ “I wasn’t ready to admit that I liked you - that I still like you, Keith! Yeah, you’re a hothead who charges in before asking any questions but -” violet flashed again in recognition - “that’s one of the best things about you! You’re so cool and driven and I just…” Lance stumbled over his words, tears in his eyes.  _

_ “I didn’t realize how  _ **_good_ ** _ it was for me to like you.” As the words tumbled out, Keith’s pressure dwindled slowly as the sneer faded. Dark brows drew together in confusion. Purple flickers growing into pulses, longer lasting shocks of amethystine contrasting the diseased yellow of quintessence corruption.  _

_ In a final act of desperation, Lance leaned forward.  _

_ But the warm spilling of blood didn’t come. The cool touch of the blade no longer tormented his hand, as it now held Keith’s face. Foreheads met, tears spilling as they both cried. After all, they were only teenagers, and the weight of the universe was a heavy one to hold. But for that moment, they basked in the comfort of knowing each other was okay after so long being apart. Using his free hand, Lance held Keith’s in his own.  _

_ He hasn’t let go since.  _

A hand grabbed his own, “Lance? You’re kinda pulling on my hair…” Keith winced, leaning back into the hands holding his head. 

Immediately releasing his hair, Lance tried to do damage control. 

“Oh, quiznack! Sorry, Keith.” 

Spinning around to smile at him, the former red paladin smirked. Blood rushed to Lance’s face, tinting his golden-tan skin a slight pink. Not fair! Squinting his eyes ‘suspiciously’, Lance gestured “I’m watching you” and gently turned Keith’s head back to face the screen. 

  
  


Throughout the video, Lance enjoyed seeing all the creatures he’d missed - especially the ones in the ocean! When they finally got to the dolphin scene, Allura revealed she could mimic their sounds exactly - which resulted in pausing the documentary and debating over she could really ‘talk’ to them. 

“If you don’t know what you’re saying, I don’t think you can communicate!” Pidge cried out, hands gesticulating wildly as she faced down with Hunk. 

Arms crossed in the typical “I’m the ultimate dad who does barbeque grilling every other weekend with the other neighborhood dads” way, Hunk replied “No way, bro. If I can say ‘may I please use the bathroom?’ in Chinese, even if I don’t know what it means, it’s still talking! It just means I dunno the meaning.” 

“But that’s not the point!” 

Amidst the team debate, Lance started braiding Keith’s hair. The shorter man was getting tired, one of Lance’s most bittersweet things to learn about his partner. On one hand it was super cute, on the other, it meant Keith also woke up super early and went for his daily sparring sessions before Lance wanted to even  _ consider  _ opening his eyes. Knotting the hair over, under, over under, switch - he proudly finished his work. 

Using the flat screen as a mirror (it had since gone black due to how long their argument was lasting), Lance nudged Keith awake to look at his reflection. Keith’s jaw dropped. 

“How did you do this? I didn’t even know you could do that with braids!” Keith was staring at Lance, eyes bugging out in confusion and awe as he delicately patted the braided circlet sitting elegantly atop his head. 

Leaning back into the couch, Lance bragged “You  _ know  _ how many sisters I have.” as the only explanation for his wicked hairstyling skills. Smoothing his far-shorter hair back, he grinned at his boyfriend and took in the view for a moment. 

He looked like some kind of angel… Or maybe that hot elf Allura and Lotor thirsted over from that  _ Lord of the Rings _ series… Sure, he was in space suit pajamas, not elven gear and definitely did not have eyeliner on, but his long, black hair had grown long enough to reach the lower half of his back. It was so pretty, and while some at the Garrison might have initially teased him for liking it, Lance knew it definitely beat staring at the back of some heinous mullet in seventh grade.  _ Hmph, if little Lance could see me now _ , he wondered. 

Snagging the remote and pressing play, Lance interrupted the dolphin-clicking argument and slid the device under the couch. As everyone else noticed the video starting again, the room became quieter again, lulled by the smooth narration and gentle imagery. 

Sliding down on his place from the couch, Lance snuggled up to Keith’s side and wrapped an arm behind his back. Keith still startled a little, but relaxed just as quickly as Lance pressed up beside him. 

“Babe?” Lance whispered, careful not to disturb the others.

“Yeah?” 

“Can you look at me when I’m talking to you?” Lance whisper-shouted, leaning up to place his chin on Keith’s shoulder. Keith’s head turned, ready to chastise him but - 

“Lance, be qui-mrph!” 

Ha, got ‘im. Pulling back from the brief kiss, Lance winked at his boyfriend before whispering “That’s all.” 

Keith’s head fell forward in defeat, snickering. 

“You never had anything to say, did you?” 

“Nope.” 

As the two returned to watching the fish swim through the giant corals and hide in underwater caves, Lance felt himself start to yawn. Leaning his head on Keith’s shoulder, he hugged him tightly and muttered a “Love you,” before falling asleep. He was out cold. 

Keith, however, was bright red as a strawberry and suddenly very wide awake. That had been the first time Lance had said that to him. And of course he had to be sneaky about it, saying it and falling asleep before Keith could say it back. Oh, well. Lance could wait until morning to hear it. 

  
With a careful twist of his head, Keith pressed a delicate kiss to Lance’s forehead. As he pulled back, he whispered  _ “I love you too, sharpshooter.”  _ before joining his partner in sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote this fic as a way of healing from how much vld fucked my mental health! hopefully this will work and i will start to feel comfortable exploring more of the good parts of this fandom again. :)


End file.
